Botanical knowledge and environmental representations in a rural community in the Atlantic Domain: a basis for local conservation

Abstract

This paper aimed to contribute to building conservation strategies, evaluating specific realities
and knowledge of the local communities that manage the landscape. In this ethnobotanical study, the knowledge of a rural
community and the local concerns about an Atlantic Forest fragment, currently under legal protection, at Viçosa, Minas
Gerais, are presented. Data from 26 participants was collected using a series of ethnobotanical methods, such as semistructured
interviews, free lists, guided tours and cognitive maps. A total of 134 species were recognized. Apuleia
leiocarpa (Caesalpinaceae), Xylopia sericea (Annonaceae), Myrcia fallax (Myrtaceae), Ocotea odorifera (Lauraceae) and
Piptadenia gonoacantha (Mimosaceae) were the most recorded. Resources were divided into six use categories, and
construction was the most important. The Collective Subject Discourse analysis about environmental concerns revealed
a detailed knowledge of a variety of ecological processes, such as the diversity of plants, animals and vegetation types,
plant interactions and the presence of bioindicators. The results provide an initial description of the relationship between
the local community research partner and the forest fragment that was studied, being a starting point for the proposals to
the biodiversity conservation considering the local reality.